


le calme de la nuit

by LovelyLessie



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 07:32:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10612188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLessie/pseuds/LovelyLessie
Summary: While on patrol, Ladybug hears someone playing music and wonders who it could be.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The song Adrien is playing isn't intended to be a specific or even a real song, but if you want some atmosphere, I listened to this while I wrote it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-0DFNTBm0

It’s starting to rain a little as she walks along the rooftops, a fine mist that shines golden in the streetlamps and the light shining from windows across the street, and Marinette pauses at the corner to watch it for a moment. She knows she has to finish her patrol, of course, but the city is so quiet and still, and she thinks there can’t be any harm in taking a moment to enjoy the sights of Paris at night.

On a cool breeze, she hears a faint chiming sound and looks around. Someone is playing music not far away, a melody as soft and glistening as the rainfall. She angles her head, listening closely, trying to place it.

The tune falters and fades out, and she’s about to turn away when she hears it resume, more slowly. She takes a few steps towards where it seems like it’s coming from.

The strains of uncertain piano notes lead her down the road and over the rooftops, and she finds herself facing the wall that surrounds the Palais d’Agreste. The music is still ahead of her, and her heart flutters and skips a beat. Could it be…?

She leaps nimbly over to the wall and follows it around the side of the darkened manor house, to find a row of side windows lit up among the empty rooms, and the sound of someone playing piano drifting from one cracked open.

Quietly, she pulls herself over onto the roof and drops down to peer in through the open window. Adrien is sitting at the piano bench, looking solemn and focused, his eyes fixed on the keys as he runs his hands over them.

As she watches he falters again and stops, frowning. He starts the phrase again, hesitates, and sounds out a few notes tentatively before stopping again. With a sigh, he drops his hands to his sides and slouches forwards, hanging his head.

Marinette taps softly on the window.

He lifts his head, startled, and turns to see her looking in through the curtains. A faint smile crosses his face and he waves.

“Ladybug,” he says. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you playing,” she says. “It sounds beautiful!”

He laughs and rubs the back of his neck, shrugging. “Um, thanks, I guess. I wasn’t playing all that well.”

She gapes at him. “Of course you were!”

“No, I mean,” he manages, looking flustered. “There’s lots of other stuff I can play better. I, ah… I haven’t played that in a while, so I can’t remember it all.”

“Oh,” she says.

“Um, do you… want to come in?” he offers. “That is, I’m sure you must be busy with patrolling Paris, but it’s raining, and…”

“I’d be glad to,” she says, and slips in through the window. She thinks she might be blushing and hopes the mask hides it. “What were you playing?”

“I don’t know if it has a name,” he admits. “It’s… something my mother taught me when I was younger. It, um.” He hesitates, looking away. “It was her favorite song.”

Marinette wonders if he can hear the sound of her heart breaking into pieces. “It’s beautiful,” she says very softly.

“Yeah,” Adrien agrees, with a shadow of a smile. “I wish I remembered it better, but since she’s been gone, hearing it upsets Father, so I haven’t practiced in a long time.”

“Will you play the rest for me?” she asks, sitting down on the floor. “As much as you can?”

He blinks, surprised, and glances at the piano. “I - I mean, sure, I can do that,” he says. “But shouldn’t you be going…?”

“Just once,” she says, “before I go.”

“Okay,” he agrees, grinning, and closes his eyes, resting his hands on the keys again. For a moment, everything is silent except the faint whisper of the rain against the windows, before he begins to play.


End file.
